A count of handling a weapon while intoxicated remained. Etter also had originally pleaded not guilty to that charge, but he switched his plea to guilty. All the charges are first-degree misdemeanors.
Judge Margaret Quinn suspended a six-month jail sentence for the weapons charge and put Etter on probation for two years.
He is prohibited from carrying firearms while on probation. Etter also had to forfeit the weapon he used to threaten the people over the holiday weekend.
The judge also ordered that Etter undergo alcohol, mental health, drug and anger management counseling.
Etter’s attorney, Michael Brush, told this news outlet that his client began seeking counseling and treatment almost 24 hours after the incident occurred.
Asked for comment regarding the sentencing, Brush said “the court got it right.”
“Obviously that is a significant issue and a thing that occurred, but 25-plus years of exemplary service to the community in the criminal justice system certainly should go somewhere and unfortunately, the way the case was charged, the state of Ohio didn’t give him that benefit, but fortunately, the judge did,” he said.
Etter began working for MTPD in May 2000. Miami Twp. fired Etter in August, the month after Perry Twp. police responded to the 12000 block of Old Dayton Road for a weapons complaint.
Body camera footage from the July 6 incident showed officers speaking to a group of people who said they were putting on a fireworks show when a man, later identified as Etter, reportedly threatened them with a gun.
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Brush said Etter has filed a grievance against the township through attorney Joe Hegadus and the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. A township spokeswoman confirmed that a grievance was filed, but said she cannot give more details as it is still pending.
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